Cucumber Mint Raita

If you are using English cucumbers, which are more mild and thin-skinned than the regular cucumbers we get in America, you do not need to peel them.

Yield:Makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

One large (or two medium) cucumbers, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and seeded, then grated

2 cups (475 ml) plain whole milk yogurt

10 large mint leaves, thinly sliced* (can sub cilantro)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin**

Pinch of cayenne

Pinch of paprika

Salt and pepper

* To slice the mint leaves, "chiffonade" them by stacking them on top of each other, rolling them up like a cigar, and taking thin slices off the end.

** If whole cumin seeds are available, take one teaspoon and toast the seeds first in a small skillet until just fragrant. Then grind with a mortar and pestle.

Method

1 Place grated cucumber in a sieve and press with the back of a spoon to squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Alternatively, you can place the grated cucumber in the middle of a clean tea towel, wrap the towel around the cucumber and wring out the excess moisture.

2 Stir spices and mint into yogurt in a medium bowl. Stir in the grated cucumber. Chill until ready to serve.

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Comments

I’m planning a big Indian meal for a bunch of friends, so I’ve been browsing the internet for inspiration. I’ve never tried a recipe from your blog even though they often look and sound so amazing because I hate converting to the decimal system, but I guess with this Raita, it’s not such a big effort, so I’ll finally try one of your recipes :)

Have seen your site before … lovely work!! Ran into this page while toodling around to see if raita will work on spicy chicken as a sandwich topping…Recently made raita with finely shredded raw mango,chopped english cucumber, green chilli….. it was yummy yummy with pulao & biriyani! make sure the yogurt is not too sour.

Teeny suggestion…using just the yogurt raita (without adding any vegetables) but with all the spices and herbs makes a great, albeit thin, spread for tea sandwiches…for sliced tomato or cucumber sandwiches on good, thin bread with the crusts cut off…too bad it’s not tea time for me! If you turn up the heat by throwing all this (sans cucumbers) in a mini-food processor with a couple of green chili peppers, it becomes a great chutney/dip for kebabs, much like the Greek tzatziki. Love your site!

There are a lot of variations of raita which I like to make, some slightly unusual but very tasty and easy to make are boiled potato raita, where you basically boil or roast potatoes or just microwave them on baked potatoes setting, mash them coarsely, add cumin powder, chili powder and some mint pretty much the way you did for the cucumber raita above.

Another favorite is spinach raita, boil spinach lightly with one cut onion, drain off the liquid and slighly puree them (I mostly don’t, since the leaves become soft after boiling, just chop up the spinach and onions together) and add to yogurt with some salt, pepper, cumin powder and very little sugar…perfect raita for summer.

Like you, I always get a large bowl of raita. Its almost a dish by itself for me. Now, in the Texas heat, I buy Bulgarian yogurt and plain Kefir, mix it, add some salt and pepper and lemon juice and chopped dill and mint. I eat this for dinner with some crackers and I am happy. Its so refreshing. In Germany, we use QUARK, a thicker cream, and turn it into KraeuterQuark, Quark with herbs. Thats a popular spread added to plain bread and also sold ready-made in supermarkets. I always used the 3 basic herbs: parsley, dill and chives that grew in my grandma’s garden. Delicious.

In the state of Maharashtra, India, we have something similar called ‘Koshambir’. To grated cucumber, add crushed peanut topping. Now, in a pan, heat very small amount of oil. Throw in the Black Mustard Seeds, Cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida, green chillies. Saute this and add it to grated cucumber with peanuts. Now add yogurt and salt.

I make a somewhat Norwegian version of raita…half yogurt, half light sour cream, a couple of peeled cucumbers, seeded and thinly sliced, salt, pepper, and the essential ingredient…dill weed! This is fabulous with baked or grilled salmon, and also delicious with Indian food…

Hi,Nice variation from what I keep on trying.For a change, add 1. a bit of curry leaves cut into small pieces,2.a pinch of asafoetida, 3.a pinch of black mustard seeds 4.a small green chilly cut into tiny pieces after removing the seeds and saute all these in 1tsp butter/ghee/olive oil and add to what you have given – presto – you have a dish to eat with tamarind rice/lemon rice/cumin pulao!!

Stir one grated carrot into 1 1/2 c yogurt. Heat 1 TBS vegetable oil in a small skillet. To the hot oil, add a generous 1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds, 1/4 tsp whole mustard seeds, a small handful of golden raisins and a large pinch of salt. When the seeds begin to pop, take the pan off of the heat. Stir the entire contents of the pan into the yogurt. Stir. Eat!

I like to add a slight squeeze of lime juice with my raita, particularly if I’m using a mild domestic yogurt. That little extra tang is especially good at cutting through richness when you mix the raita with biryani.

for variations and esp if you are using this as a dip try these variations:-finely chopped fresh tomatoes and red onion, – finely chopped green chilis ( yes, chilis!) it tastes wonderful with toasted bread/chips– some KIX cereal.. adds a nice crunchy flavor

This is almost the same as tzatziki or cacik as we call it in Turkish. Cacik is a very basic Turkish dish. Goes best with aubergines and boreks but it is a perfect accompaniment to almost all summer meals. The purpose is definitely to eat lightly in hot summer days, take away your thirst but still have something nutritous. It is perfect for a diet, too.

To prepare cucumbers are either grated or cut into small cubes. Salt and garlic to taste are definitely added. We also add a lot of mint, usually in dried form. Paprika or cumin is not very common. A few drops of olive oil is also a nice addition. Usually the Turkish version has more water than the tzatziki.

If I recall, the casein actually binds to the receptors on your tongue blocking the heat rather than canceling it out. Regardless of if that recollection is correct, this looks neat.

Hi Ethan, in the link section I included a link to an explanation of the chemistry involved. According to this article, “Milk contains casein, a lipophilic (fat-loving) substance that surrounds and washes away the fatty capsaicin molecules in much the same way that soap washes away grease.” ~Elise

I love summer cucumbers and raita made with them. My old neighbors introduced me to Indian cooking years ago. Raita not only cools down the hot chiles, but it’s sort of addicting as a summer side if more cucumber is added. I planted a big pot of mint this year and it’s ready for raita and mint chutney. Tandoori chicken, here we come!

Try another variety – replace Cucumber with Bell Pepper cubes (mix of Green, Red and Yellow), you wont believe how good the raita will be. Bell Peppers can be raw, slightly roasted in oil, or grilled, each brings a different unique raita.

My favorite raita is onion raita. Slice red onions very thin; mix it with salt and squeeze out extra moisture. Then mix it with slit green chillies, chopped fresh ginger and curry leaves (It’s a fresh herb you will find in most Indian stores).

As an Indian, I eat raita almost every other day and I like changing it so I don’t get bored. Some days I’ll simply chop tomatoes, onions, carrots, a little cilantro, a small chili, add yogurt to it and season it with salt and pepper. Other days I make the cucumber raita you have listed and season it with chat masala that you would find at any Indian store. It’s delicious!!

My family always makes raita using carrots and cucumbers. I’ve had it with cilantro (which I don’t like), but never mint. However, we use sour cream and not yogurt, or homemade Greek-style yogurt. The stuff in restaurants is a lot thinner than traditional raita, I personally think.

When I make Indian Food for company I always make at least 5 Raitas and/or Chutneys. It is always the most fun part of the meal. One of my favorites is the banana one from the Ajanta cookbook. I believe they have a restaurant in/near San Francisco. I made one almost identical to this one a couple of weeks ago, but the difference was that it had radish in it.

I adore raita. I learned to cook Indian food from The Vegetarian Epicure 1 and 2. Your recipe (with cilantro instead of mint) is pretty much their cucumber raita recipe. And on the same page, the one I like even better has bananas, mustard seeds and coconut. (Vegetarian Epicure 2, page 314)

This is a wonderful recipe, thanks for posting! Do you have any ideas as to what it would be good with? I’m not too familiar with Indian food, but if I have this with it I’m sure I’d love it! Or maybe it would be good just for bread dipping!

This sounds like a nice Indian version of Tzatziki – one of my favorites. Unfortunately (and much to my whole family’s dismay) I don’t love the flavors and pungent aromas of Indian food (it tends to make me a little queasy), but the sauce sounds so good that I was wondering if it might be used on grilled chicken, scooped up with pita chips, or used in some other way. I’d love suggestions!